my computer just died :( why?????????????

annie123

Hi hope you can help.
My sons computer was working fine then it just quietly, over 5 secs, stopped dead. Screan blank and all quiet. The monitor stayed on for about 15mins but when I tried the surge proctector into another socket the monitor died as well.
It's not that old, but as a skint student and now skint parents as he is a student! I would be very grateful for any ideas to bring it back to life!!! as running to a new computer would be very difficult.
Its a desk top pc, 1.5 speed and 250 and 70 gb hard drives.

Where do we start?

raffe

Sound like either the power supply or the CPU (processor) fan to me,

To check this if you feel confident and its not under warranty open the cover briefly switch the pc on and see if the little fan in the middle of the motherboard is going round, and see if the fan in the power supply is going round the big greyish looking box where you plug the plug into the back of the computer if that makes sense, the power supply also has a fuse in it, If it is the power supply its about £30-£50 to fix yourself CPU fan is about £10-£40 to fix yourself however if it is the CPU fan the cpu might have overheated and got damaged

annie123

Thanks for that going to look now. Will report back.
Bye the way it is not covered by a warrenty.

annie123

Hi not sign of life at all. All fans are as still as they could be. And not a sound from anything.

I have tried a new power cable.

espresso

annie123 wrote:

Hi not sign of life at all. All fans are as still as they could be. And not a sound from anything.

I have tried a new power cable.

Sounds like the PSU has died then. Available from about £20 upwards.

Martini

Just how old is it and where did you buy it from?
You say it is out of warranty but a year is difficult for the manufacturer or store to enforce as it is reasonable to expect it to last much longer!

Redmikee

No power to the monitor either?
Are you sure the surge protector is ok?

Mike

annie123

Hi, Thanks for all the help so far but more,
Brought a new PSU on way home last night. Changed it, not as difficult as I thought, but the computer is still dead!!!!!!!
I have used different sockets, incase of surge protector prob, tried different power leads for the monitor and the comp. Both are still dead.
I have an old spare monitor which I know works and I have plugged it into the computer, but still nothing.
I would have thought that the power supply should make some noise when I turn it on, is that correcct?
Does the motherboard need replacing? have I lost my hard drives?
Thanks again for your help.

Cappsy

A couple of things to try from my "lessons I have learned the hard way file."

1. On most monitors there is a small indicator light by the power switch to show it is getting power. Does yours? Plug the monitor into a socket and switch it on (doesn't need to be connected to the computer) if the light shows the monitor may still be ok.

2. Check the back of the new power supply for another switch. If there it can get knocked into the off position and make a computer seem dead as a dodo.

Good luck

annie123

Thanks Cappsy I will look over the new PSU for another switch and try the monitor in another socket when I get home from work and let you know.

Kilty_2

Does the monitor have a seperate power cable or is it the pass through type that goes through a computer's PSU?

To test your PSU, follow this guide:
http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=psumod